Michael S. Sitrick’s firm to haul in $75,000 a month for Huawei
Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies has hired the former public relations firm of sex predators Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein as it fights against Trump administration efforts to ban the use of its computer chips over espionage and national security concerns.
Sitrick Group, owned by veteran publicist Michael S. Sitrick, registered this month as a foreign agent of Huawei and its American subsidiary FutureWei, according to documents filed with the Department of Justice. Sitrick, who calls himself one of the “most accomplished practitioners of the dark arts of public relations,” will provide “strategic counsel, media relations, analyst relations, data insights, content strategy, and public communications” for Huawei at a rate of $75,000 per month, according to a contract disclosed to the Department of Justice.
It could signal that Huawei—and its overseers in the Chinese Communist Party—are taking a new approach to fighting U.S. government sanctions against the company. American officials have warned for years that the CCP uses Huawei to conduct espionage and surveil critics of China’s government. The Trump administration issued a warning to tech companies last week that using Huawei chips would “violate U.S. export controls” issued against the Chinese firm. The Chinese government shot back that it will take “resolute measures” against the United States for blacklisting its chips.
Sitrick, whose memoir is entitled The Fixer, has represented thousands of clients, including companies like PepsiCo and McDonald’s and actresses Halle Berry and Kim Basinger. He’s also represented some controversial names in his nearly 40 years in the PR business.
Weinstein hired Sitrick’s firm in 2017 after dozens of women accused the Hollywood mogul of rape and other sexual offenses. Sitrick executive Sallie Hofmeister, a former reporter for the Los Angeles Times, served as Weinstein’s primary publicist and issued statements on behalf of Weinstein that “any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied.” Weinstein is serving life in prison following several rape convictions. Sitrick Group resigned from representing Weinstein in April 2018. Hofmeister is listed as a Sitrick Group representative on the Huawei account, according to documents filed with the Department of Justice.
Sitrick began representing Epstein in 2005, just before police in Florida launched a sex crimes investigation against the politically connected financier. Epstein hired Sitrick again to handle public fallout over a photograph of Epstein chatting with his longtime friend Prince Andrew. Epstein allegedly procured underage girls to have sex with the British royal.
Huawei did not respond to a request for comment. Sitrick declined comment on his contract with Huawei.